Interpretive Summary: Sugarcane is grown on organic (muck) and sand soils in a region near Lake Okeechobee in south Florida. This region contributes about 25% of U.S. domestic sugar production. New cultivars are needed that yield well on both soil types and have acceptable profiles of disease resistance, but only rarely are such cultivars identified. Experimental data of CPCL 02-0926 suggest that it is one of these rare cultivars. On muck and sand soils, the three-crop mean cane yields of CPCL 02-0926, CP 89-2143, and CP 78-1628 were similar. CP 89-2143 was the primary reference cultivar against which yields of CPCL 02-0926 were compared on muck soils and CP 78-1628 was the primary reference cultivar on sand soils. The sucrose contents of CPCL 02-0926 and CP 78-1628 were similar. However, the sucrose content of CP 89-2143 was higher than that of CPCL 02-0926. Its acceptable cane yield and sucrose content resulted in its sucrose per hectare yield and economic index on muck and sand soils being similar to those of CP 78-1628 and CP 89-2143. Cultivar resistance and tolerance are the major sources of sugarcane disease control in Florida, but they are challenging to identify and quantify, because plants are growing and therefore exposed to disease pressures all year. CPCL 02-0926 has shown adequate resistance for commercial production in Florida to brown rust, orange rust, sugarcane mosaic virus, and smut. CPCL 02-0926 is moderately susceptible to leaf scald and ratoon stunt is susceptible to sugarcane yellow leaf virus as are almost all sugarcane cultivars in Florida. The commercial release of CPCL 02-0926 makes available to Florida growers a cultivar that maintains high yields in the presence of diseases, and therefore should help to continue providing the U.S. an affordable and stable sugar supply. Additionally, CPCL 02-0926 may be tested by farmers in Central America, who grow mostly Canal Point (CP) cultivars. CPCL 02-0926 was developed through cooperative research by the USDA-ARS, the University of Florida-Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, and the Florida Sugar Cane League, Inc., and was released in September 2011.

Technical Abstract:
‘CPCL 02-0926’ sugarcane (a complex hybrid of Saccharum spp.) is the product of research initiated by the United States Sugar Corporation (USSC), and completed cooperatively by the USDA-ARS, the University of Florida, and the Florida Sugar Cane League, Inc. CPCL 02-0926 was released to growers in Florida on 20 Sept. 2011. CPCL 02-0926 was selected from a cross between commercial cultivar CP 80-1743 and the USSC proprietary genotype CL 92-0046 made at Clewiston, FL on 20 Dec. 2001. CP 80-1743 is a high yielding, early maturing cultivar which was widely grown in Florida until the introduction of orange rust (caused by Puccinia kuehnii E.J. Butler) of sugarcane in 2007; CP 80-1743 is highly susceptible to orange rust and as a result it has been substantially reduced in acreage in Florida. The male parent of CPCL 02-0926, CL 92-0046, was advanced through the final stage of testing in the USSC cultivar program but not released for commercial production. CPCL 02-0926 has acceptable resistance to smut (caused by Ustilago scitaminea (Sydow & P. Sydow), orange rust and brown rust (caused by Puccinia melanocephala H. & P. Sydow). However, Bru1, a major gene for resistance to brown rust, was not detected in its DNA. CPCL 02-0926 is moderately resistant to leaf scald (caused by Xanthomonas albilineans Ashby, Dowson), and Sugarcane mosaic virus strain E (mosaic). CPCL 02-0926 is expected to be used on both muck and sand soils in Florida.